What happens if you decide not to have chemotherapy?

If you decide to stop chemotherapy, be sure you’re still getting relief from symptoms such as pain, constipation, and nausea. This is called palliative care, and it’s meant to improve your quality of life. Medications and other treatments, such as radiation, are part of palliative care.

Do younger people respond better to chemotherapy?

Children’s bodies are often better able to recover from more intense treatments (such as higher doses of chemo) than are adults’ bodies. And in general, childhood cancers often respond better to chemo because they tend to be cancers that grow quickly (and chemo works better against fast-growing cancers.)

How soon do you start chemo after diagnosis?

Treatment delays Cancer treatment should start very soon after diagnosis, but for most cancers, it won’t hurt to wait a few weeks to begin treatment. This gives the person with cancer time to talk about all their treatment options with the cancer care team, family, and friends, and then decide what’s best for them.

What is aggressive chemo treatment?

Aggressive care includes chemotherapy after multiple earlier rounds of treatment have stopped working and being admitted to an intensive care unit. Such interventions at the end of life “are widely recognized to be harmful,” Chen said.

Is chemotherapy considered palliative care?

When chemotherapy is used in the second situation, it’s called palliative chemotherapy. Palliative chemotherapy is typically used when the cancer has spread and chemotherapy is not being used to cure the cancer. The main goal of palliative treatment is to improve quality of life.

Does palliative care mean dying?

Does Palliative Care Mean You are Dying? No, palliative care does not mean death. However, palliative care does serve many people with life-threatening or terminal illnesses. But, palliative care also helps patients stay on track with their health care goals.